Tips for Birders
Learn to identify species, choose the birding right gear, support conservation, and more.
Getting Started
What is a Field Guide?
The first step towards becoming a birder is getting your hands on a good field guide. A field guide is a collection…
Staying Safe While Birding
Whether you live in a rural area, in the suburbs, or in a major metropolitan city, most of us have put safety…
Choosing and Using Binoculars
Young birder with binoculars. Photo by Bill Thompson, III. Choosing your binoculars Every birder needs binoculars. If you’re lucky you might be…
Getting Started in Birding (or how to become a bird watcher without even trying)
If you are one of the millions of people who watched the movie The Big Year and thought “Hey, I think I’ll…
10 Tips for Getting Started in Birdwatching
Photo by W. Clark It is no secret that the number of bird watchers has climbed exponentially since March 2020 and the…
Top 10 Ways to Get Better at Bird Identification
Many backyard bird watchers struggle to identify certain birds. This is perfectly natural. Almost every bird watcher—even a seasoned pro—gets stumped once…
Resources for Young Birders
Two young birders study the Young Birder’s Guide by Bill Thompson, III. Join a Bird Club! Joining a club is one of…
Why Do We Bird?
Why do we bird? Is it our hunting instinct sublimated? Could it be that our penchant for collecting is being positively perverted?…
Keeping a Bird Watching Journal
It is said that the difference between a person who simply enjoys nature and a true naturalist is that a naturalist keeps…
Bird Species
Acadian Flycatcher
Look for Song is often an important clue in identifying the little gray and greenish flycatchers. In the South, the Acadian is…
Acorn Woodpecker
Look for Loud, active, and boldly marked, the acorn woodpecker is hard to miss. Both males and females are black-backed and have…
Allen’s Hummingbird
Native to the Pacific Coast from southern California to southwestern Oregon, the 3 ¾-inch Allen’s hummingbird sports a bronze-green back and flame-colored…
American Avocet
Look For The graceful curves of the American avocet’s bill and neck serve it well as it feeds while walking along, sweeping…
American Bittern
Look for American bitterns are a plump, medium-seized wading bird with a stout neck and a bill that has a heavy base….
American Black Duck
Look For The black duck is a medium-sized dabbling duck with a dark charcoal body. Males and females are very similar, though…
American Coot
What Does an American Coot Look Like? What looks like a duck and acts like a duck, but is not a duck?…
American Crow
Look for An unrelieved glossy black from bill to toenail, crows are armed with a stout, strong bill that acts as a…
American Goldfinch
Look For The bright canary-yellow and black plumage of the breeding male American goldfinch has earned this species the nickname “wild canary.”…
Birding Optics & Gear
A Buyer’s Guide to Binoculars
Shopping for optics can often feel like an overwhelming task. How do you decide which binoculars are right for you? Shopping for…
The Well-Equipped Birder: A Review of the RYO Ultra-light Bino Harness
Depending upon your physique, a conventional neck strap toting a full-sized binocular makes for some severe fatigue after a long session of…
The Well-Equipped Birder: One Size Doesn’t Always Fit All
by Chuck Jakubchak RYO Ultra-Light Bino Harness, available at Redstart Birding. I have used a traditional bino harness for several years but…
How To: Avoiding Binocular “Warbler Neck”
With proper technique, your birding can be a source of great joy, rather than a pain in the neck. Birders joke about…
Choosing Pocket Binoculars for Bird Watching
The best binoculars in the world are useless i. You know the story. You left them home because they were too heavy…
Using Binoculars: Getting Rid of the Pain in Your Neck
Are your binoculars a pain in the neck? I mean that literally. After an hour of birding is your neck sore? Is…
How to Use Binoculars: Helpful Tips for the Field
The most useful binoculars for bird watching incorporate a few basic features. They have a central focus wheel and a diopter focus…
Choosing and Using Binoculars
Young birder with binoculars. Photo by Bill Thompson, III. Choosing your binoculars Every birder needs binoculars. If you’re lucky you might be…
The Well-Equipped Birder: Bino Dock Keeps Optics Handy
Sometimes, when one is hustling to get to work or an appointment, a streak of feathery color zips in front of the…
Bird Conservation
Aftermath: The Gulf Oil Spill
What are the short- and long-term effects? Whenever the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of…
Bird Conservation at Home
If all bird watchers simply performed one of these solutions, we would still save the lives of millions of our favorite birds…
Christmas Bird Counting
A long-standing program sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the Christmas Bird Count takes place each winter from December 14 to January…
Commentary: The Ivory-bill, Found
A team of ornithologists organized by Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology has rediscovered at least one male ivory-billed woodpecker, alive and well and…
Help for Migratory Birds: The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation [Duck] Stamp
In addition to waterfowl (ducks, geese, and swans), many other birds have benefited directly from stamp revenues. Among them are waterbirds (like…
Protecting the Sandhill Crane
Does the state of Tennessee really need to open a season on sandhill cranes? by Julie Zickefoose Those of you who read…
Rare Bird Focus: The Endangered Kirtland’s Warbler
The endangered Kirtland’s warbler is one of the rarest members of the wood warbler (Parulidae) family. It is a fascinating bird for…
Rediscovery: The Golden-crowned Manakin
In terms of biodiversity, no other wilderness area can compete with the Amazonian Rainforest. Amazonia is the vast region of intricate rainforest…
Saving the Wakarusa Wetlands
Saving the Wakarusa Wetlands: Land Development and the Project to Mitigate its Impact by Dave McDermott, excerpted from the November/December 2010 issue…
Young Birders
Top 10 Tips for Better Bird Watching
Anyone can see a bird. Just go outside and look around. No matter where you are you should see birds. Bird watchers…
Nemesis No More
Clearwing hummingbird moth. Photo by publicdomainpictures.net. August is one of the quietest months of the year for birders. I have a handful…
Brood X with My Brood
Brood X cicada. Photo by J. Melfi. A couple weeks ago, I was driving along, listening to a conference call at a…
It’s National Moth Week!
Photo by J. Melfi. One of the many (many, many…) side effects of becoming a birder is that once you start noticing…
Where Do Birds Go At Night?
Before falling asleep, most birds seek shelter from predators and weather. This is vital to their survival because a sleeping bird is…
Lucy’s Life List: The Perfect Gift for Young Birders
Earlier this year, I reviewed for Bird Watcher’s Digest a sweet children’s book written by Sally Deems-Mogyordy and illustrated by our November/December…
Book Note: Dreams of Zugunruhe by Michael Kinsey
Dreams of Zugunruhe by Michael C. Kinsey, Ph.D. As a writer, editor, and all-around language lover, I am always delighted to come…
Top 10 Reasons to Be a Young Birder
Why should a kid become a birder? Here are some reasons why we, being young birders, think you should: BWD Editor Bill…
A Time to Nest
Like many of you, my life turned upside down with the announcement that schools would be closing for at least three weeks—and…
Frequently Asked Bird Questions
Aftermath: The Gulf Oil Spill
What are the short- and long-term effects? Whenever the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of…
Bird Conservation at Home
If all bird watchers simply performed one of these solutions, we would still save the lives of millions of our favorite birds…
Christmas Bird Counting
A long-standing program sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the Christmas Bird Count takes place each winter from December 14 to January…
Commentary: The Ivory-bill, Found
A team of ornithologists organized by Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology has rediscovered at least one male ivory-billed woodpecker, alive and well and…
Help for Migratory Birds: The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation [Duck] Stamp
In addition to waterfowl (ducks, geese, and swans), many other birds have benefited directly from stamp revenues. Among them are waterbirds (like…
Protecting the Sandhill Crane
Does the state of Tennessee really need to open a season on sandhill cranes? by Julie Zickefoose Those of you who read…
Rare Bird Focus: The Endangered Kirtland’s Warbler
The endangered Kirtland’s warbler is one of the rarest members of the wood warbler (Parulidae) family. It is a fascinating bird for…
Rediscovery: The Golden-crowned Manakin
In terms of biodiversity, no other wilderness area can compete with the Amazonian Rainforest. Amazonia is the vast region of intricate rainforest…
Saving the Wakarusa Wetlands
Saving the Wakarusa Wetlands: Land Development and the Project to Mitigate its Impact by Dave McDermott, excerpted from the November/December 2010 issue…
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